The Others
by TheJournal4
Summary: Shortly after the destruction of the Fabrication Machine, a small group of Stitchpunks arrive in the area. Thought this brings 9 and 7 joy to see others, it leave them curious on their existence and why they now appear. But something far worse is waiting for them...
1. Chapter 1

**_"The Others"_**

 ** _Prologue_**

 ****19 looked over the horizon, then back at the rock, then at the horizon again. He looked then again at the rock. "The Emptiness? How true is that, eh 11?" he looked back at his scouting partner.

His partner shook his head, "That factory looks like it was recently used," he pointed out to 19. "He has a point," he heard another say. 11 and 19 turned their backs to the rock to the voice.

"Most of the rubble out her is fairly new, it wasn't here last time I was out this far scouting. Though, I wasn't here that long out here when a beast chased me off," 12 said as she climbed up from the rocks from the high point.

12 had a leather body, steel optic in her eye sockets, she held a small spear with her thin but strong fingers of copper. She had lost her left arm to a Cat-Beast whilst on her scouting mission out into The Emptiness. Luckily, 11 was there with her to scare off the beast. She still was able to utilize her spear with one arm.

"Where's 13?" 11 asked the old warrior 12. "R-right here, captain!" 13 called out as she struggled to climb the rocks. Her cowl fell in front of her face as she put half of her body onto the top of the small hill they were on.

13 struggled to get her other half onto the top. "Hang on, I-I'll be there in just one s-second!" she exclaimed and threw her legs over the rocks. 12 lent her a hand, 13 took it happily and stood up to meet the others.

13 was smaller than the others, except the twins and the youngest, just by a few centimeters at most. She wore a long cowl along with a small cloak, she had a light brownish burlap body with copper optics along with her think mix of copper and steel in her fingers. She had a small bow slung over her shoulder with about four arrows in the quiver 11 gifted to her for her first scouting mission.

19 was tall, one of the tallest of the group's entirety, and he had a burlap body with small leather straps around his chest. His right optic was covered by a bandage from when a Hound-Beast caught slashed at him from the shadows in the old Sewers. He utilized a large blade fashioned from an old kitchen knife.

The group looked over the rock at the old battlefield. Ruined machines and old strange machines with skeletons covered in dust filled the area for miles. "It's even worse here," 13 said when she saw the sight. 11 put his hand on her shoulder, "I know, 13, it reminds you of… _him._ But we have to move on, the Safe-Haven was overrun. There was nothing we could do, we were lucky enough to even get out," 11 told her.

13 had a flashback of the attack many weeks ago…

"14! 18! Where are you" 13 shouted over the roaring flames burning all around her. The winter breeze came in through the window but melted away almost instantly. 17 ran through the burning debris and tugged on her shoulder, "We have to get out of here! This place is going to burn us before this entire place falls apart!" he told her and tried to pull her away from the fire.

But 13 wouldn't listen to him.

"I'm not leaving without them!" she yelled and shoved him away. "14! 18! Come on, where are you!" she continued to yell over the flames, desperately hoping the twins would appear soon. 15 waited and waited but his patience ran out when he heard a loud roar. "13," he hollered to her and started looking around frantically, "we can't stay here! We have to go- "15 was cut off by the sound of large claws clamoring against the wooden debris.

He turned around and his mechanical heart started beating spastically as the shadow of the beast loomed over him. "13, GET DOWN NOW!" he shouted and grabbed 13 and threw her into a small area safe from the flames but she hit her head against a broken wooden pole. As he turned back around there was a blue flash that lit up the burning house.

The next time 13 opened her optics and stood up, the house was silent and still. The fire had died and the frozen winter took over, freezing the interior. She looked around for 15, he was nowhere to be found. Not even a single trace of him. "15! 15!" she called after him.

She waited for a response but only heard the hissing winter wind.

"13!"

She shot around to 11 running through the ruins along with 12. "Where have you been?! We've been worried sick when you didn't come back to camp!" 12 told her and hugged her with one arm. "It's good to see you're okay, when no one showed up back at camp we got worried!" 11 exclaimed, "we tried to get inside and look for you but the fire was too much for us to handle, so we had to wait until the fire died down."

13 looked around the old debris, the house used to be their home. They were built there, made there, and practically grew up there. 13 had fond memories of _The Doctor_ playing with her as she ran around with the others.

 _"_ _13, get back here,"_ _The Doctor called out and searched for her. 13 hid behind a music box along with 14 and 18. The twins' green and purple burlap with yellow stripes all around their tiny bodies didn't help them hide. Especially their flashing optics when they communicate with each other._

 _"_ _Twins, 13, where are you? Come out of hiding!" The Doctor said cheerfully. His voice sounded tired, he looked like he was barely able to stay awake. He wore an old scholar's uniform with a one of the jackets the rebels wear. His hair was mahogany brown, short, and messy. He was young, about his mid-twenties or so._

 _His eyes were a mix of hazel and light emerald green, 13 along with the twins would draw his eyes whilst they worked and proudly show him._

 _13 peeked over the music box along with the twins who stayed close together at all costs. "Ready?" she asked the twins. They flashed their optics in response. "_ _ **Yes.**_ _" She nodded but as soon as she got ready to move the music box was pulled out into the open._

 _"_ _Ha, found you guys!" The Doctor said as he cupped the twins and 13 into his hand. The twins scurried around in his hand, 13 started climbing his arm. She hopped from his sleeve to his shirt pocket and poked her head out._

 _The Doctor chuckled as he brought his hand up to the pocket so that the twins could join 13. Once they all got comfortable, they looked up at The Doctor smiling and cheerful. He laughed and rubbed them on the head._

 _"_ _You have great potential, my little ones," he told them, "Be good-no, be better than us." He looked out the window at the snow covered deserted streets and ruins. Tanks and fallen soldiers piled the streets, some were even atop fallen machines that they managed to bring down. There were even some makeshift campfires out in the distance, rebel and military soldiers roamed around making their daily patrols._

 _"_ _I hope you make something of the world," he said and stared out the window, looking at the sun setting in the west._

 _"_ _Because we destroyed it."_

13 was shot back to reality, "Our home is gone…" she told the others. 11 walked over to a burnt music box, he took one of his arrows from his quiver and used it to pry it open. He reached down inside and started tampering with the gears.

"Remember what he told you, 13," 11 said as he brought up a silver crescent moon. He walked over to crank and gestured for 12 to help him. 12 patted 13 on the back then walked over to the crank. 11 and 12 started to turn the crank.

Out of the music came, a simple song started playing. There was elegancy to the song, beauty and sorrow as well.

 _The Doctor's_ words rang in her head.

 _"_ _You have great potential, my little ones, be good-no, be better than us."_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 1 "What Remains"_**

 ****The group wandered descended down the hill top onto the low ground. 11 helped 12 climb down the hill, he carried her with one arm while with the other was used to bring them down.

"Careful, careful," 12 muttered as 11 descended the rock-climbing rope; his grip started to loosen. "12, if you don't shut up and constantly shifting your weight, I _WILL_ drop you!" 11 told her. 13 and 19 both descended down next to the two. "Guys, don't fight or you'll _both_ fall," 13 said then continued descending.

19 was having a hard time getting a grip on the rope, "I just can't wait to get out of this harness thing!" he groaned as he tugged on the harness with his right hand. 11 laughed as he looked down at the ground which he was close enough to not get hurt by a fall.

11 looked at 12 then at 19.

One by one, he slowly let his fingers fall away from 12's back. She started to slip away, "11! I'm falling! _11_!" she screamed as she fell from 11's grip. 19 unlatched his harness and leaped to 12's aid. He caught her mid-air and put her above him as they came crashing into the ground.

11 unhooked his harness and leaped off and landed with a _THUD_. He and 13 ran over to 12 and 19. "Guys! Are you alright!?" 13 exclaimed as she ran to them. "Yeah, mostly," 19 said as he let go of 12.

She rolled off his stomach onto the dirt, "11, that was not funny!" she muttered while trying to catch her breath. 11 kneeled right next to her, "Next time, have patience when you have me carrying you and I won't drop you," he told her.

12 tried to nudge 11 in the leg but he jumped out of the way. "You get back here!" 12 shouted and quickly got to her feet to chase 11. "You'll never catch me alive!" 11 exclaimed and booked it down the hill to the valley. 13 just hopped around them as they took off like a wild fire.

She looked down at 19, "Need some help?" she asked him. 19 nodded silently.

She reached down and lent him a hand, the massive 19 took it and slowly got up; almost bringing 13 down to the ground in the process. "Careful strong-arm, I'm fragile," she told him as he adjusted his gear.

19's heavy armor looked like it was weighing down on him but to 19 it felt like wearing nothing at all. His shoulder pads and knee guards were made out of some old gears and wires he found under rubble back home.

His giant scissor blade was strapped to his magnet, there was a small metal plate too that he pulled down when in the heat of battle. "I think we should find 12 and 11 before they tear each other apart," 13 told 19.

The tall Stitchpunk nodded then they took off to find their compatriots.

They ran down the hill unto the valley of fallen machines, old tanks were toppled and crushed. 11 was on top of one of the tanks, one hatch leading to the internals was open, his bow held it open while he salvaged the remains.

12 was shouting at him from below. "11! I swear of my soul I'll get back at you!" she waved her arm angrily at him. 11 just ignored her as he continued what he was doing. "Yeah, whatever, just let me do my job and you do yours."

12 huffed and turned her back to him, keeping an eye out while he salvaged. When 12 finally noticed that 19 and 13 were heading over to her she scanned for something to do. She reached inside one of the tank's road wheels and pulled something out.

"12, let's scout out the area to check for anything 11 can use for equipment," 19 said as he reached the rest of them. "Alright! We're heading out, don't get torn to shreds while we're out looking for your scrap metal!" she hollered. 11 stuck his hand and gave them a thumbs-up.

They raced to the rocks, 19 tossed 12 onto the rocks and raced off.

13 climbed the rubble to reach the top of the tank. She scurried to 11's side as he yanked out a bunch of wires. "Hey, 13," he said casually. 13 squatted next to him and sat crisscross.

"Can I help?" 13 asked 11 and peeked inside. Her friend brought his head out of the machine's internals, it was covered with grease and oil. He looked at her and raised a stitch, "Really? You want to help me salvage old parts from machines of a by-gone era?"

13 nodded enthusiastically.

11 sighed and rubbed his head. He turned to his left and reached inside his quiver, he returned with a small piece of paper. "Head into the city and mark salvage locations on my map, also look for a place to stay overnight in case you can't make it back," he explained to her as he handed her the map.

13 snatched it out of his hands and jumped up. "You got it, captain!" she said then ran to the edge of the tank and leaped off and crashed into the dust. 11 raced the edge to check on 13, he saw her running towards the wall of the city.

"13! Stay away from danger!" he shouted to her. In the distance, 13 stopped in her tracks, turned around and waved at 11. He waved back then got back to work. Feeling ignored, 13 inched away. Huffing and puffing as she reached the outer layers of the wall. Her exoskeleton felt like it was nearly broken, her mechanical lungs were not able to contain much longer. She needed help, but the rest were busy, it seemed difficult to hide her impatience on them.

"Too much excitement…can't breathe…" she labored out muttering as she slowly climbed the rubble of a machine. As she reached the top, she got an overview of the ruins of the city.

Old skeletal corpses lined some of the streets, some were in odd places like corners and cars. She saw tin cans scattered about the place. 13 started to climb down when something amongst the rubble caught her eye: pieces of a plastic spoon along with wax from a candle.

Drivingly, 13 dipped her fingers in the wax, it was starting to mold or harden, she couldn't tell. "Strange, what's wax doing here? And a spoon?" she rhetorically whispered. 13 brushed the pieces deeper into the rubble, wiped off the wax then hopped down.

She looked around the ruins, keeping an eye out for any key-locations for her to investigate. Ahead there was an old cathedral in the distance. The silhouette of a lone house just barely standing not too far from her. In the same vicinity, an old plane (quite a large one) crashed into the main district.

13 couldn't decide which one to investigate first, so she decided to choose the one closets to her: the house. Having learned her lesson from earlier, she walked to the house instead of running there. As she walked, 13 noticed the entire place was seemingly deserted. The bodies she saw were older. Extremely older than the usual ones she finds.

She held up 11's map, checking to see if it was still up to date. "Let's see, according to 11," she changed her tone to mimic 11, " _According to the map, there should just be a straight shot to the house!_ " when she lowered the map she found something…odd.

There was a group small flags (just about her height) placed in a circle leading back to a great pyre. The flags were burned yet 13 could still make out what was written on them. She read them as she passed by them:

"5."

"8."

"6."

"2."

"1."

13 took a step back from the flags. " _Why are these here?_ " she thought as she backed up. Looking to the stairwell, they were intact…mostly. Suddenly, she heard rumbling in the distance, turning her head to the west. A great dust storm roared over the silhouette of a factory, passing by the pillars that stood tall and covering the old battlefield.

The storm spread quickly, it passed through the plains of the battlefield and reached the wall at an unnatural speed. Making the dust cloud siege the walls and hitting the streets. 13 peered into the cloud, hoping that she could find her way back through the dust.

"Oh, I can't see a thing!" she groaned as dust particles smothered her face. In frustration, 13 turned back to the stairwell, "I need to wait out this storm if I'm going to make it _somewhere_!" she said aloud. She ran through the storm. One arm covering her forehead to help her maneuver the terrain. Her cloak went wild against the wind, with her other arm she clung to it as best as she could. Running directly into the stairwell.

13 fell on her back. Her cloak unwrapping itself, flew off into the wind. She tried to grab it before it went out of reach but to no avail. "My cloak!" she bemoaned as she watched it fly away. Yet, she couldn't stay upset at the loss of her prized cloak. She had to get inside or she'll be lost in the storm.

Sprinting at the first step, 13 leaped and barley landed on the edge. Just managing to pull herself up on the ledge, "First one down, a **_lot_** more to good. Good idea for spending my time."

 **…**

 **9 stepped outside the Library to gaze at the dust storm in the distance. He watched sadly as it covered his creator's home, he just couldn't stand the sight of it being tampered. "We'll have to make a journey to his home once the storm has cleared. Maybe we can find more things of him to help us in the future."**

 **He turned around to see 7 walking towards him. He smiled and nodded. 7 always knew how to cheer him up. "We scoured the entire place, every nook and cranny we could think of," 9 told her as she stood next to him. She had her skullmet tied behind her shoulders, her spear sat against a book back in the entrance.**

 **They decided to watch the storm together.**

 **"Hey, what's that?" 7 asked and pointed to a small object flying towards them. 9 looked at the object but he couldn't figure out what it was. "I don't know," he told her. The wind from the storm carried things here and there like dust particles and small rocks. But this one stood out, it was a small black sliver of cloth.**

 **The object flew straight into 9's hands, he and 7 examined it together.**

 **"Looks like a cloak," 7 stated.**

 **9 flipped the cloth around, revealing small stitches that made a shawl and just below that a single number was stitched in.**

 **"13…?"**


	3. Chapter 3

**_"_** ** _The Others"_**

 **** ** _Chapter 2 "Home of the Scientist"_**

 ****"11! We're back!" 12 shouted in the distance. 11, without moving a mechanical muscle, reached over with his right arm and gave a thumbs-up. He had finished the scavenging a long time ago so he thought he deserved a well need break. 11 started to drift off into a dream again.

 _11 was back at the Safe-Haven before it was burned to the ground. It was during one of the winter storms, they usually blocked them in or broke through their windows. Everyone else was asleep on the desktop, 11 was on watch. He wore a cloak to keep his internals warm, his bow was at the ready with the quiver full._

 _He stepped up to a broken window, he watched the raging storm outside. In the distance, almost completely hidden by the storm, he saw a faintly lit light. He zoomed his vision to try and uncover what he saw. As he leaned out the window, something grabbed him by the neck and threw him out._

 _He went crashing into the snow, he thrashed around at the snow as he got up. 11 searched for his attacker frantically. The figure was camouflaged by the storm. "You've gotten sloppy," they told them. 11 drew his bow along with an arrow ready, he fired at the figure. His attacker grabbed the arrow and broke it under his knee. "You're weak, you can't protect them all, you'll fall eventually and they will all die." The figure walked over to him and raised their foot, then stomped on him._

11 woke up gasping for air, he tried to look around but it was pure darkness. "12!" he shouted in the pure darkness, "19! Where are you!?" The hissing of the wind filled the air, 11 was alone. In the darkness, he could just barely make out the silhouette of a large being slowly making its way to him. He jumped off the machine and crashed into the dirt ground.

The figure continued moving towards him, closer and closer. 11 reached behind his back for his bow but he felt only thin air. He checked his belt for any weapon, he felt only his small carving knife. He yanked it out and held it to the figure, "Stay back!" he yelled. The figure didn't stop.

"Stay BACK!" he yelled again and swung the knife around a little bit. The figure looked deeply at 11, its head tilted slightly. There was something in the middle of its chest. It was small and shaped like a diamond, it gleamed an orange vibrant color. The object sparked a little, slowly growing in size.

11 grinned angrily.

"Bring it!"

 **…**

After 13 climbed the old wooden stairwell, she found herself in an attic filled with books, papers, and a body covered in papers. 13 slowly walked closer to them and took a long look at them.

Most of them were blueprints but she couldn't read them in the dark room. But she could make out the roughly made silhouette of a ragdoll sketch. "W-what?" she stammered then took a few quite steps forward. She grasped at the paper, she held it close. From what she could see from the little light she had, the paper read:

 _I am alone, consumed by the ringing in my ears. It's so quiet out there. My body is cold and fatigued, vision blurry._

 _*Blurry words masked by the darkness*_

 _We had so much potential… so much promise. But we squandered our gifts._

 _*More Blurry words*_

 _Our world is ending, but life must go on_.

"We are not alone," she whispered then let go of the paper. The wind carried it away, 13 watched as it went up in the air then fell straight down onto something.

She slowly walked over to the page, then pealed it off and saw something horrible. She jumped back, falling on her butt. It was the cold, dead face of the scientist who wrote the note. His eyes were slightly open, revealing old hazel eyes forever staring at a music box.

She slowly crept forward, not making a single sound, and closed his eyes.

13 continued exploring the attic, she climbed up a bookshelf filled with all sorts of wonders. "81 and 24 would have seen this and lost it," she said cheerfully but it quickly died. "But they're gone."

She leaped from the top of the bookshelf onto the attic's desk. Upon her landing, she lost her footing and tumbled. Her light body crashed into a wooden object.

13 laid there on her back, waiting for her lungs and reflexes to relax. Once everything returned to a normal pace, she slowly turned over on her stomach then pushed herself up. When she got to her feet, 13 observed her surroundings:

 **A tall copper device directly to her right, shutters leading to a view of the outside, and finally a music box with a tag that read "9" in front of the Scientist.**

She decided to investigate the farthest one, having seen the consequences of her last endeavor of going to something that was closer. She slowly walked over to the shutters. They were booming back and forth violently. She managed to get a hold of the right shutter and held it firm. On the outside, the storm outside had calmed down but was still blocking her only way of getting in and out of the city.

Her optics couldn't see through the dust fog, no way to get home. The ruins were barely visible under the fog, the only thing she could see were the flags below. She looked to her left and right, looking for silhouettes of hopefully more intact buildings. To her left, in the distance she saw the rear half of an old plane sticking out of a short brick building.

To her right, in the far away distance was the silhouette of a sturdier looking building with cast iron gates. 13, satisfied with her observation, closed the shutters and hopped back over to the desktop. As she walked along the edge of the desk, she noticed that the objects on the desk didn't have as much dust as everything else.

She looked up at the copper device. In the middle, extending out was a small circular placeholder for a piece to fit. 13 had an idea, she ran across the desk to objects to put into place. She climbed them and hopped to one of the copper extensions. She struggled to keep herself on it, the thin piece was too small for her to balance on.

She scurried over to the holder for whatever was supposed to be place in the circular placeholder. When she got close enough she reached out to the circular placeholder, and when one of her fingers just barely touched it she swore she heard a voice.

" _Life must go on."_

When she heard that phrase, she fell into a dream.

 ** _*BOOM* An explosion in front of her threw her against debris. She looked around frantically, the city was engulfed in raging fires. Soldiers and Rebels ran from cover to cover, street to house, house to ruins. She donned her cloak once again, her body wasn't as way worn like it normally was. It reminded her of when she first woke in the world._**

 **** ** _Towering above them all were the machines. Their singular red eyes peered deep into the souls of their victims. Three towering machines walked down the streets, gunning down anything that moves. They seemed to avoid 13 entirely, focusing on the Rebels bombarding them with firebombs, as they continued down the streets slowly._**

 **** ** _She looked at the ruins across from her, it was quite a long distance but not too far for her, she saw a figure her size waving at her. They wore a black cloak, modeled like 13's old cloak but this one had a facemask, their legs were made of corduroy but it looked to have been through a lot._**

 ** _"_** ** _Over here!" the figure shouted quietly and gestured for her to run over to him. 13 looked around to make sure nothing was nearby. Once she was clear of danger, she bolted towards the figure as fast as she could._**

 **** ** _She climbed up some stone debris and leaped next to the figure, rolling straight into the old wall of a bombarded house. The figure crouched down next to her, "Are you alright? What's your name?"_**

 **** ** _The figure's voice was one that belonged to someone who's seen horrible things, he wasn't fresh like 13. "I-I'm 13," she told him and covered herself with the cloak. "Hey," the figure said smoothly and calmly, "There's no need to be afraid, I'll keep you safe." He held out his hand to her, "Come on, let's find a safe place," he told her._**

 **** ** _She took it and he pulled her to her feet. She was able to get a good look at the figure._**

 **** ** _Their cloak was in tatters, they've been too close to explosions since war sprung out in the city. Their face mask almost covered most of their face along with the hood of the cloak._**

 ** _"_** ** _Who are you?" she asked him. She could tell he was smiling underneath the mask. Before he could speak all, she heard was *BOOM*!_**

 **** ** _And the dream ended._**


	4. Chapter 4

"The Others"

Chapter 3 "The Hound"

"9, let's talk about this," 7 called out to him as he started piecing together a lightstaff. "Not now, I have to find them. I have to make sure that it's true, that we're not the last," he told her. The cloak they found had only one meaning and one meaning only. There were others, other ragdolls given a soul.

It was an opportunity that should not be wasted. "We don't even know if it's true! The beasts may be gone but nature's threats aren't!" 7 pleaded. 9 continued gathering supplies, he heard her words but wouldn't let them stop him from trying. "I'll be back," he told her then he was gone.

With his own cowl and lightstaff, he trudged off into the ruins of city. 7 watched until she could see him no more, then, she went back inside and joined the twins in the main hall then to the reading area. "He'll be fine, he'll be back," she constantly muttered to herself.

…

13 abandon the attic room, she was driven insane by the dream to find the place from the strange dream. Her mind could only focus on the dream, a deep desire to find the very place, all other thoughts were cast aside into the dark.

"Gotta find it, must find it," 13 insanely muttered to herself. She wandered the ruins of the desolate city, if a pebble were to fall it would echo throughout the entire city. "The place, the place, the dream, key-KEY! There's a key!" she jabbered. She kept wandering and wandering the empty city until strange new debris caused her to somehow find herself on a street not far from the Library.

"Close, close," she muttered and climbed the debris of an old house, she observed the area, looking for the spot she dreamt of. "Hey! Hey!" she heard a voice in the distance call out. She shot to the streets and looked around frantically. "Nothing, nothing, voices! More voices! Whispers tell a secret!" she yelled aloud and started digging in the dirt. She pulled out metal shards and old bones.

"Wait! I'm a friend!" she heard the voice again. "Friend?" she thought to herself, she turned her back to start digging again when she realized that the voice didn't belong to anyone she knew. "Friend? Friend! Friend! FRIEND!" she shouted back happily but also confused still as he sanity slowly returned. She heard creaking metal, she turned around to see a hulking shadow.

The towering figure stood over her with its head leaning over. She could make out the outlines of the eyes. 13 slowly unslung her bow, the figure's joints loosened and creaked. Then, a beaming red light flashed out of one of the eyes, she fired on arrow wildly at it. It simply bounced off the head and fell into the mud, the beast crushed it with its front paw.

It growled angrily, 13 notched another arrow. "Heh, hehheh, you know that wasn't on purpose and that I'd never do anything like that!" The beast lashed out but she was quicker; she leaped to the side. The beast continued to unleash a massive furry of attacks with its front two paws. The large cloak fell from the beast, revealing a design mix of the Cat-Beats mixed with the Winged-Beast and with hound design.

The beast roared angrily and ran in circles around 13, taking bites at her but missed. She fired wildly at the beast, most of her arrows went through the exoskeleton. "Bring it! Come on!" she taunted the beast, she slowly backed up to a broken drainage cap. "What's going on?! Hello?!" she heard the voice call out again.

"Run! Get to- "she tried to shout to the voice but something wrapped around her leg and pulled her down. "Why I outta- no! I won't- ARGH!" she exclaimed as the ground fell beneath her, losing her balance, falling into the abyss.

The beast stopped circling, it peered into the abyss. "Hey!" the voice shouted closer, the beast shot its gaze to it.

9 stopped in his tracks, the beast slowly walked towards him. "Stay back!" he commanded and held the lightstaff out. "The beast simply laughed to itself, then out of a window of the towering building there was a crash. The beast instantly turned its attention away.

9 slowly backed up until he felt something grab his shoulder. He shot around to see a cloaked figure grab his forearm and pull him away from the scene. They ran to a pipe and the figure shoved him in first hastily then followed in close behind.

"Who are you?" 9 asked but the new-found friend shoved him. "Quiet! Now's not the time for questions, you've asked enough of those seeing how it left only four of you alive," they told him. But 9, stubborn as he can be, continued to ask questions. "Were you one of those others? The once I called out to? The owner of this cloak?" he asked then pulled out the cloak.

The figure stopped dead in their tracks, "Where did you find this? What did they look like?" they ordered. Before he could respond, the pipe shook violently. It was pulled out of the building; the beast shook it madly. It peered into the open end, the red light illuminating the pipe. The figure pushed 9 down the pipe, he crashed into the ground and looked up at the figure landing in front of him.

The figure pulled out a small metal pole with a button on it, they clicked it and it extended out into a glaive. They grabbed their cloak and threw it off, revealing a white hair that covered the right half of their head and ended on their shoulders.

The light revealed her body: it was slim, slimmer than him and 7, it was made of dark brown hessian except for her left arm which was made of corduroy, her feet were similar in design but looked to be made for climbing rough terrain, her fingers looked almost identical to 7's but were made of gold or copper, their optics gleaming silver and on their back, was a number but he couldn't make it out.

The other Stitchpunk charged at the beast, 9 joined them in the attack. The mechanical beast threw the pipe at the, 9 slid under it while the other Stitchpunk leaped onto the pipe then off it. "What is that thing?!" 9 exclaimed as they got closer. "Hound-Beast! They've been hunting us for a long time!" the other Stitchpunk answered, their voice having an accent that sounded English (9 found old audio tapes and listened to them with the twins once).

The Stichpunk reached the beast's feet and began hacking away, running from one paw to the other constantly. 9 grabbed stones and hurled the at the head, they just bounced off the skull with a few getting stuck in the metal.

In a fit of rage, the Hound-Beast went berserk and thrashed at everything relatively close to it. 9 retreated from the fury but the other Stitchpunk would not. They rolled through the attacks and climbed up the legs into the exoskeleton all the way up to the chest. "This is for my family!" the Stitchpunk yelled angrily and shoved their hand into the beast's wires and yanked something out. Then they climbed to the neck of the beast and sliced it with their glaive.

The beast roared one last time then collapsed into the streets, the head rolling against the crumbling wall, the Stichpunk hopped off and landed in front of 9. "Nice work but who are you?" 9 asked her. She held out her hand, "72, my family calls me 72."


	5. Chapter 5

**_"_** ** _The Others"_**

 **** ** _Chapter 4 "Time for Action"_**

"H-how many others are there?" 9 asked 72 as they walked towards a towering building. She laughed a little as 72 listened to his pestering questions. "When were you made? Why is your number 72? Where were you born-" he went on and on, letting all his questions out.

72 walked up to a corner of the building. She found a cloth flap with ink spilled all over it like one of the old paintings 9 found in the Library. Lifting the flap up, it revealed the internal structure behind the walls. "All questions will be answered, in due time, we must get to my home first," she told 9.

Walking inside, with 9 close behind, there was a serious of ladders leading up to an opening in the roof. 9 could see a metal shard sticking out with a rope attached to it. "Come on," 72 beckoned while climbing up, "I'll explain more once we're inside."

They climbed up the ladders, crossing the old wooden beams that barley held the walls together. Eventually they slowly made their way up to the rope extending off the metal shard.

"Why are we waiting? What is so special about this place above?" 9 asked impatiently. 72 rolled her optics, leaping to the rope. She quickly climbed it and pulled herself up onto the metal, "Hurry up! 24 could've done this in his sleep!"

9 tried to follow 72's path exactly the way she did it yet failed immensely. She watched him trying to climb up the jagged path she made. He reminded her of 17 who taught her how to be acrobatic. She observed his clinging to a wooden beam. The poor stitch trying to inch his way across to other jagged metals leading up to the top as best he could.

"You need any help?" 72 asked 9 playfully, leaning over the edge looking down at him. He shook his head in shame, "I-I got this!" It took him another step. Unfortunately, the beam collapsed right out underneath him. 9 barley grabbed part of the beam that still remained with 72 springing to her feet. She grabbed a strand of rope and tied it to a jagged piece of metal around her waist. With a leap of faith, she jumped off towards 9.

72 managed to snatch him up as he was yanked up to the top. They tumbled down a slope, 72 still clinging to 9 close as they rolled down the rubble. The rope around 72's waist snapped off the strand, making her cowl fall away along with her glaive.

She fell through the cracks of the metal wall and collided with something inside. 9 was the first to get to his feet, he unslung his lightstaff from his back and activated it, then he rushed inside. The interior was almost completely hollow, 9 saw the silhouettes of what looked to be crates of cargo and weapons.

"72? 72?!" he called out in the darkness as he searched for 72, "What is this place?!" Then, he saw a figure emerging from the shadows. He held his lightstaff out to them, revealing a stitchpunk with white hair on one side of her head.

"72?"

72 smiled, "Now's the time for questions."

 ****"How many are there, of the others?" 9 asked 72 as they climbed old cargo crates inside the old plane. "Last time I saw my family, there was 14 of us. But I haven't seen any of them since our home went up in blazes during an attack on my home, I've been alone out here searching for them," 72 explained. "I sought them out, scouring the entire wasteland for them, searched every safehouse we built," she explained as they walked along crates to a lit area.

"Wait, you built safehouses in the city?" 9 asked. 72 laughed to herself, "Back home, my big brother in charge decided that there needed to be places for us whenever things go wrong. So, he took the liberty of heading out into this place and started building safehouses in places where we'd only find them," she explained to 9.

"How come we haven't found any of them?" 9 asked her as she helped him up then leaped to another crate. 72 looked down at 9, who was standing before the crate looking at her, she leaped off the create to a clump of cargo wires. She clung to the wires then slowly crossed them until she reached the wall of a dimly lit area. She leaped off the wire, grabbed something as she fell and pulled it down to the ground.

She gestured for 9 to come over, he shined the lightstaff in her direction and followed the crates leading up to 72. He hopped down to 72 to see what she wanted to show him. "What is it?" he asked her while trying to get a good look at the object on the wall. "It's a map of the entire city, the small dots of ink are the safehouses…well, except for the ones with blotches. Those were overrun or destroyed by things from the Sewers," she explained.

"Why are you showing me this? 9 questioned her as he looked over the map. 72 gestured for him to follow. She walked to one small rundown shack illuminated by candles. She opened up the small box next to the shack and pulled out a match. She scrapped it against her foot, the flames flickered to life in the darkness around them.

"In here," she told 9 and pushed the curtain aside, revealing a small carton box with a piece of paper with ink written on the top. 72 led him over to the carton, "Because I can't let _this_ happen to the others, to my family." 9 now was able to read the ink, he understood why she wanted him to see this:

"17, to Rally Us…

August 26th, 2009 – December 9th, 2009

Cause of Death: Unknown

7th born with a soul, first to die with a soul"

 ****9 slowly opened the coffin, revealing a horrific sight. He saw the broken and torn remains of 17. Dead, like 5, 1, 8, 2, and 6. "W-what h-happened to him?" 9 stuttered as the sight overtook him. "I don't know. At first, I thought it was one of the Hound-Beats that got him, but they could never do anything like this," 72 told him.

"I need your help finding my family, I can't let them die out there. Not like my brother, this can't happen to any of them," she explained and put the carton back over her brother. "Will you help me?" she asked him. 9 smiled at her, "I will do whatever I can to help you find your family. Where should we start?"

72 smiled then they walked back over to the map. "We need to find my family, you've already seen one of them, 13. We're going down into the Sewers to search for her, but we cannot do this on our own. If any of the Hound-Beasts follow us then we'll be slaughtered almost instantly," 72 explained as they got back to the map.

"There are others besides myself, about three more. But, only one of us is a capable fighter like myself," 9 told her. 72 laughed. "Seeing how I had to save you from that Hound, they should be as you say they are," she told him and started packing things up from nearby caches.

"So, where are these others of yours that you talk **_soooo_** highly of?" 72 asked when she finished packing things up. 9 turned his lightstaff back on and lit up the map. "There! The Library! That's where we live!" 9 exclaimed and showed 72 the location. "That old Library? I remember that place from before the war! The Rebels used it as an intelligence center before they were driven underground!" 72 told him and started heading over to the exit.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation? Come on, let's go!" she told him then they took off from the downed cargo plane and into the perilous streets below.

…

7 paced back and forth in her room with the twins. "He's been gone too long! He's never out there this long!" she told the twins worryingly, "What if he's hurt or got lost?"

"7, he's fine! With the storm outside, you would have even gotten lost in it. You're never this concerned or worried normally," 4 flashed. "Yes, yes, I'm sure everything's fine. But you're clearly not. We haven't seen you act this way before. Are you okay? Is something wrong?" 3 flashed.

"No, no, I'm fine!" 7 lied to the twins, clearly masking something. "I-it's just that there's not many of us even left so we have to look out for each other!" she quickly stuttered an explanation. The twins looked at each other, flashed a few messages back and forth, then confronted 7. "Yes, that may be true, but you're especially concerned in 9's safety," they explained to her.

"I'm fine. Now either give me good news or leave me be!" 7 told them flustered and went back to pacing. The twins exchanged worried looks and nodded in agreement. They scurried off back to their reading, leaving 7 alone in the room. "He's fine, he's okay, stop worrying about him! Think about something else! Just don't think about him and you'll be fine. Stay focused!" she told herself and sat on her bed.

She looked over at the Talisman sitting there along with a few of their other mementos they searched for after…the machine's demise:

5's crossbow, 8's helmet, 1's coin, 6's key, and a piece of 2's string.

"He never lets himself forget them. He blames himself for everything that happened. The longer he's gone, the more worried I am at the possibility that he- "7's thoughts were cut off by the twins rushing back into the room and tugging on her arm.

"7! 7! You **_NEED_** to see this! Now!" 4 begged desperately. "Come on! Come on! Hurry!" 3 pleaded. "Alright! Alright! Show me!" she told them then they dragged her all the way out to the main study. They hid behind a pile of books, 7 noticed the twins were shocked beyond belief. "What? What is it?" 7 whispered.

The twins slowly rose of from their cover, 7 following along, and they saw a giant beast crawling about the place. They shot back behind cover. It was like a mix of a Cat-Beast with the Winged-Beast but with a design of a hound.

Hound-Beast.

"What is that thing?!" 7 asked the twins. They both shook their heads. "We don't know! We've never seen it before!" 4 told her. "Look! Look what's in its mouth!" 3 interjected. 7 peered back over their cover and looked at the beast's mouth. She saw a large sword that looked like a more modified version of 8's own version. But among them was a small ragdoll body…on the back was a number that she could barely make out. But she saw one number.

"9"

7, filled with fear and rage, snatched up a knife from on top of the books and charged the beast. Its head shot straight at her, it grunted and charged at her. The beast slashed at her with its claws, but she rolled past them. She started climbing the legs when it thrashed around its leg. She was thrown off and crashed into a pile of books.

She shot back up and launched her knife into the beast's eye, it fell back and roared in agony. The beast tried to claw out the knife, it only added more to the damage. It clawed out its own eye, when it looked back to its prey it noticed that they were gone.

They looked around angrily and started pacing around. "Hey! Scrap metal!" 7 shouted. The beast looked over at the voice when an arrow pierced its other eye. The beast thrashed around angrily, 7 came rushing towards the beast with her spear and slashed its neck off.

The head crashed into the ground, 7 quickly pried open its jaws revealing a body rolling out. 7 flipped the body over, revealing…not 9. Half his face was patched up with leather, mainly his right optic. His body was scarred and battered, the blade fell to his side. 7, consumed with fear and anxiety, flipped the Stitchpunk onto his back revealing the real number.

19.


	6. Author's Note

**Hey guys, it's TheJournal4 here to give you guys and little update on the story. Sorry for not posting a chapter in what seems eons ago, but life just caught up for what seems like eons. I'm working double time to finish the story I hold so dear. Thanks to those who left reviews and kept supporting me throughout this endeavor of writing this. It gives me great pleasure to write this for those who actually want to know what happens at the end.**

 **Anyways, thanks y'all!**

 **-TheJournal4**


	7. Important Notice!

**_Hi there! Sorry for the long absence! School's been a handful and my other writing has had my full attention because I wanted to just finish up a chapter before dedicating more time to you wonderful folks (old and new)! To the new people reading, THANK YOU for choosing my story to read! It really means a lot to me seeing that people are interested in my work! Makes the work feel like it pays off in the end!_**


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